| name | release-planning |
| description | Structures release scope, timeline, dependencies, and rollout strategy. Identifies critical path, risk mitigation, and communication checkpoints. Returns release checklist, timeline, and go/no-go criteria. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Write |
| effort | high |
Release Planning
When to activate
2–4 weeks before a planned product release. You have a finalized feature list, team capacity, and a target launch date. Activation requires feature specs, engineering estimates, customer communication needs, and rollout strategy (phased vs. all-at-once).
When NOT to use
Not for real-time incident response or hotfixes. Not without clear scope definition (use this when scope is locked). Not for ongoing product iteration (this is for discrete releases). Not for managing day-to-day engineering tasks. Not without customer communication planning.
Release Planning Framework
Core Components:
- Scope lock: List of features, fixes, improvements included
- Timeline: Development, testing, approval, deployment windows
- Dependencies: Features blocking other features, infrastructure readiness
- Testing strategy: QA, user acceptance testing, staging validation
- Rollout plan: Phased, canary, all-at-once, or feature flags
- Communication: Customer communication, support prep, marketing alignment
- Risk mitigation: Known risks, mitigation steps, rollback plan
Go/No-Go Checklist:
- Engineering: All features complete and tested
- Product: All requirements met, customer feedback positive
- QA: All critical bugs resolved, P1 blockers cleared
- Support/CS: Documentation ready, team trained
- Marketing/Sales: Launch messaging ready, customer comms scheduled
- Infrastructure: Deployment infrastructure validated, rollback tested
- Executive: Business approval, customer success sign-off
Planning Checklist
- Define scope — List features, fixes, improvements; confirm this is everything
- Estimate effort — Get engineering time estimates per feature; flag dependencies
- Identify critical path — Which features block others? Sequence accordingly
- Map timeline — Dev complete date, QA window, staging validation, deployment window
- Define success metrics — What indicates successful release? (uptime, adoption, performance)
- Plan communication — When/how do customers learn about this? Beta? Announcement? Docs update?
- Document rollback plan — If something breaks, how do we revert?
- Identify risks — What could go wrong? Dependencies on external systems? Scaling risks?
- Plan testing strategy — QA coverage, user acceptance testing, performance testing
- Create approval gates — Who signs off at each stage? What's required for sign-off?
Output Format
# Release Plan: [Release Name / Version]
**Target Launch Date:** [Date]
**Release Manager:** [Name]
**Status:** [In Planning / In Development / In QA / Ready to Deploy]
---
## Scope Summary
**New Features:**
- [Feature 1] — [Brief description, engineering estimate]
- [Feature 2] — [Brief description, engineering estimate]
**Bug Fixes & Improvements:**
- [Fix 1] — [Brief description]
- [Improvement 1] — [Brief description]
**Total Scope:** [X features, Y fixes, Z improvements] · **Est. Effort:** [X engineer-weeks]
---
## Timeline
| Phase | Start Date | End Date | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feature Development | [Date] | [Date] | Engineering | [IN PROGRESS / COMPLETE / BLOCKED] |
| Code Review & QA | [Date] | [Date] | Engineering + QA | [IN PROGRESS / COMPLETE / BLOCKED] |
| Staging Validation | [Date] | [Date] | QA + Product | [IN PROGRESS / COMPLETE / BLOCKED] |
| Documentation | [Date] | [Date] | Product + Tech Writer | [IN PROGRESS / COMPLETE / BLOCKED] |
| Customer Communication | [Date] | [Date] | Marketing + CS | [IN PROGRESS / COMPLETE / BLOCKED] |
| Final Approval Gate | [Date] | [Date] | Executive + Product Lead | [IN PROGRESS / PENDING / APPROVED] |
| Deployment | [Date] | [Date] | Engineering + DevOps | [SCHEDULED / IN PROGRESS / COMPLETE] |
**Critical Path:** [Which feature/phase is most time-sensitive?]
---
## Dependencies & Blocking Risks
| Dependency | Blocker? | Status | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Feature A depends on Feature B] | YES / NO | On track / At risk / Blocked | [Plan B if blocked] |
| [Infrastructure readiness] | YES / NO | Ready / In progress | [Fallback plan] |
| [Third-party API / service] | YES / NO | Validated / Pending | [Contingency] |
---
## Testing Strategy
**QA Coverage:**
- Functional testing: All new features + impacted existing features
- Regression testing: [Scope of regression tests]
- Performance testing: Load test on [X concurrent users], validate response times <[Xms]
- Mobile testing (if applicable): iOS + Android devices
- Accessibility testing (if applicable): WCAG 2.1 AA compliance
Beta customers: [List or count]
Duration: [X days]
Success criteria: [What indicates UAT passes?]
Deployment to staging by [Date]
Full environment testing [Date]
Sign-off by Product + CS [Date]
---
[Phased / Canary / All-at-once / Feature Flag]
[X% of users / specific segment] — [Date/time]
[X% of users / specific segment] — [Date/time]
[100% of users] — [Date/time]
[What % adoption/engagement signals "OK to proceed"?]
Feature flag: [Enabled for X% / specific segment]
Monitoring window: [X hours]
Rollout pace: [Increase by X% every X hours]
---
Engineering + QA standup [Date, time]
Stakeholder go/no-go meeting [Date, time]
Post-launch retro [Date, time]
Email announcement to [segment]: [Date]
In-app notification: [Date/time]
Changelog entry: [Live date]
Blog post (if major): [Published date]
Support documentation updated: [Date]
Training session for support team: [Date]
FAQ / Known issues doc: [Link]
Escalation plan for early issues: [Process]
---
[AWS / GCP / Heroku / On-prem / Other]
[If any; planned downtime?]
[Strategy]
[Key metrics to watch post-deployment]
[How do we revert if critical issue emerges?]
---
[ ] All feature development complete and code-reviewed
[ ] QA: All P0 & P1 bugs resolved; P2 bugs triaged
[ ] Staging validation passed; no critical issues
[ ] Database migrations tested and reversible
[ ] Documentation complete and reviewed
[ ] Support team trained; FAQ/escalation plan ready
[ ] Customer communication drafted and approved
[ ] Rollback plan documented and tested
[ ] Monitoring dashboards configured
[ ] On-call support assigned for deployment window
[ ] Product lead: Final feature sign-off
[ ] Engineering lead: Technical readiness sign-off
[ ] VP/Executive: Business approval to proceed
[APPROVED TO DEPLOY / HOLD / BLOCKED BY: [reason]]
---
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Critical bug in new feature emerges post-launch] | [HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW] | [HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW] | [Test plan, feature flag to disable quickly] |
| [Database migration fails] | [MEDIUM] | [HIGH] | [Rollback tested, data backup taken] |
| [Performance degradation] | [MEDIUM] | [HIGH] | [Load test pre-launch, monitoring alarms] |
[Name, phone number for on-call during deployment]
---
Deployment time: <[X] minutes
Zero data loss or corruption
Uptime maintained >99.9%
[Feature adoption rate]: Target [X]% of eligible users in first week
[Feature engagement]: Target [X] uses per session
Support ticket volume related to release: <[X] in first 48h
Customer satisfaction score: >=[X]/10
---
[ ] Monitor error logs & performance metrics for 48 hours
[ ] Gather customer feedback & support tickets
[ ] Triage any issues discovered; create follow-up bugs
[ ] Publish launch report (metrics, learnings, next steps)
[ ] Schedule retro meeting to capture lessons learned
[ ] Plan follow-up features/improvements based on feedback
---
Example
Release Plan: Product Operations Stack v1.2
Target Launch Date: June 30, 2026
Release Manager: Alice (VP Product)
Status: In QA
Scope Summary
New Features:
- Stakeholder mapper skill — [5 engineer-weeks]
- Metrics analyzer dashboard — [3 engineer-weeks]
- RACI template generator — [2 engineer-weeks]
Bug Fixes:
- Fix roadmap prioritizer sorting issue
- Improve session-log performance
Total Scope: 3 features · 2 bug fixes · Est. Effort: 10 engineer-weeks
Timeline
| Phase | Start | End | Owner | Status |
|---|
| Feature Development | Jun 3 | Jun 17 | Engineering | COMPLETE |
| Code Review & QA | Jun 18 | Jun 24 | Engineering + QA | IN PROGRESS |
| Staging Validation | Jun 25 | Jun 28 | QA + Product | SCHEDULED |
| Documentation | Jun 20 | Jun 28 | Tech Writer | IN PROGRESS |
| Deployment | Jun 30 | Jun 30 | DevOps | SCHEDULED |
Go/No-Go Checklist
Status: 9/12 items complete
